I had initially wanted to attend the Tour de Fleur in Half Moon, but the tour packages are all sold out.  I guess it’s really popular and you should order the tickets months in advance.  The Tour de Fluer is organized by the city of Half Moon Bay and would include a behind the scene tours of local nurseries, wineries and farms.  Maybe next summer, so instead we went berry picking!

We headed out to Pescadero (a small town near San Francisco) for berry picking at Phipps Country Store and Farm.  It was too late for strawberry picking, but there were Boseyberries and Olallieberries.  Even thought the berries looked ripe and were black (purple), and yet they were still very sour!   A tiny few were sweet.  I’ve had mulberries that were much sweeter.  In between M and I, we picked about 1 pound of berries.  Cost of berries is $3 per lb.  Entrance fee is $3 per person, which includes tour of the animal farm full of exotic chickens, peacock, goats, and more.

I really couldn’t tell the difference between these berries, I use to just call them blackberries.  Picking blackberries remind me of my childhood in the summertime.  Our family would head out with our cousins to the nearest river for fishing and swimming.  While everyone was having fun swimming, I was the only kid busy eating ripe berries.  I guess my love for fruit has never ceased.

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The first time I ever saw a goat was at the SF Zoo, the petting zoo actually. They are really cute and funny animals. The kids love to be around them and they are great with the kids too. M is better with animals than me, so he had lots of fun brushing the coat. I just stood there watching, until I decided to see for myself. Their fur is not very soft, definitely not like a cat, but much more tougher… maybe more like a Pot Belly pig.

The latest news I have to share about how great goats are come out of Washington state. Goats do a great job of clearing up land that has been taken over by unwanted shrubs and vines. They can eat up blackberry bushes (thorns too) with no problems at all! This popular method of clearing up land with goats grew out of southern California. It began as a great way to clear the foothills to prevent wildfires. Now that people are more interested in “green living”, the idea of using goats are becoming more popular. The benefits of using goats really out weight the use of machines or manual labor.

In Bellevue, Washington goats were used to clear out a steep quarter-acre lot. It took four days and 60 goats to chew throught the blackberry vines and Scotch broom. Even local gardeners jump in by hauling away the goat droppings to use as fertilizers - all free and organic. The contractors saved about $6000 to $9000 by using the goats. You can read more about it at seattlepi.com. The goats go for hire at about $450 a day for the goats, a $250 transportation fee and extra for setting up their fencing. I will have to remember to hire the goats if there are ever some clearings to be done.

But the neatest thing about goats is that they have the best milk around. Very nutritious. People who are lactose intolerate can still consume goat milk. And soap made with goat’s milk are the best. Leaves you feeling very pampered. I think someday I would consider having a few herd of goats too. Maybe in about five years time. First I have to get over the fact that animals just smell funny! Read the rest of this entry »